Kept Woman
by Albion19
Summary: The world is dying and Maya is trapped. AU, complete.
1. Chapter 1

Light seeped in from under her eyelids as Maya started to regain consciousness. Along with the light came a thumping ache in her head. Her eyes sprang open as her hand made to touch her stomach, but she couldn't lift it.

"Don't try to move, there's no point Maya."

She felt her insides simultaneously freeze over and become molten at his voice. Her eyes sought feverishly for the source of his voice in the dim cell and spotted him, a dark long shadow against the far wall. She bared her teeth at him and willed the rage to blacken her eyes. The force of her efforts lifted her head from the pillow she was resting on before she slumped back down, panting. She looked at him with shock, fear beginning to prickle.

He chuckled at her softly, stepping forward into the light of the shaded lamp on the walls. All the lines of his body were relaxed. "That won't work either, not here."

"Fucking bastard! Let me go!" He moved over to the side of the bed she was lying in, tuting.

"No. I've been looking for you for months and it hasn't been easy…"

After she had been shot and then revived the world had gone through catastrophic changes. A virus had been released and the population was thinning out more and more every minute. Maya had been working with the Company, at first to try to find Sylar but then that had been pushed to the side when the plague had spread. But she didn't have to wait long to learn about his whereabouts. He had broke into the Company site in Odessa and stormed the place, taking more powers and killing anyone that was a threat. She had been forced to run again. Her, Mohinder, Matt and Molly. The House of M was what Matt called them.

She gasped suddenly, anger gone for the moment. "Mohinder?!"

Sylar stiffened slightly before looking down at her with a calm, stoic expression. "Dead."

Maya sucked in a breath, her chest beginning to feel tight. "Oh Mohinder, oh god…" Her sight became obscured but then she saw him watching her. "You killed him to? Why do you do it? Why do you take everything from me?" Her eyes glinted up at him darkly.

"It wasn't me Maya. He was injured in the ambush and died. But it wasn't me." She looked at him for a long time, watching him unblinking to try and catch his lie. He was telling the truth, his eyes holding a sadness. Mohinder always said that the man thought of him as a friend for some reason. She closed her eyes and the tears fell unbidden. He left her cell and closed the door gently behind him.

"I want to sit up, you can't keep me like this."

He was back to standing over her, after leaving her for hours. His mouth thinned noticeably before his hand hovered over her. She cringed away from him. He tilted his head at her.

"I'm not going to hurt you, if that's what you're worried about?"

"You think I care?! I don't want you touching me!"

He breathed an annoyed breath through his nose before waving his hand. "There, get up." Maybe he thought that she would be to disoriented to try anything, or maybe because of her present condition because Maya took him by surprise as her fist shot up and he was punched hard in the face before she jumped down and her knee aimed for his groin. He sank down with a pained groan as she dashed past him and pulled the door open. Tried to pull it open, as it wouldn't budge with her tugs. She screamed and kicked at it, venting her frustration out at it before turning on him with a snarl.

He was leaning on the bed, face red as he sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Didn't think you would do that." His voice was annoyed but laced with an amusement. She came at him with a growl and he straightened, face serious. She was stopped in her tracks, inches from him, unable to move. "Don't make me put you on the bed again."

"Bastardo." She hissed.

"So you keep saying. You can swear at me all you want but you're not going anywhere." His voice was little more then a growl. He watched her tongue sucking over her teeth.

"Why haven't you killed me? You had no problem doing it before so why not now?" She couldn't help the bitterness entering her voice, even after everything that had happened, everything he had done.

"You know why." He moved closer into her space but she couldn't move away. His fingers caught a lock of hair by her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. Maya felt sick. His eyes seared into hers. "Almost five months Maya, five months since we were together."

Maya's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing into slits. "We were never together."

He snorted. "I think evidence says otherwise."

"I didn't mean that! You were never with _me_." Duped, forever getting duped.

His bottom lip pouted slightly. "That's not true, not really. You did save me, I haven't forgotten that. In fact," he looked at her softly "I don't think anyone had been as nice to me as you were. Not for a very long time anyway."

"I was a fool not see you for the snake you are."

He shrugged "I'm very good at making friends with people when I want to. I didn't want you to suspect me so you didn't."

"So arrogant."

"If you say so." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"It was arrogance that made you kidnap me, it's arrogance that's still keeping me here. It's not yours. And _you_ are the fool to believe it." She had pushed her face confrontationally up to his, eyes burning.

"Oh but it is. You can lie but I know the truth. I wanted your power, it's true but when I started to look for you I saw you were travelling with Mr Bennet. But then suddenly I couldn't see you."

He had killed Molly months ago. Maya felt a wave of anguish at the image of her sweet face. She tried to move away again but he kept her stationary."I tried to pin point you but instead I got this interference, two signals blurring together so I couldn't be sure if it was you." His fingers trailed down her shoulder. "I was confused at first but then I focused hard and it became clear. It was me, I could feel me in you." His eyes looked filled with a wonder.

Maya felt her stomach plummet. She shook her head, "No, it's not yours. Do you really think I'd keep anything that had your blood?" She raised her chin "I'd rather die."

It was his turn to shake his head "I don't believe you. I can trace people, I can trace that the baby growing inside you is part of me. There's no denying it Maya. And," He paused, eyes narrowing and his head tilting in consideration before continuing softly. "You couldn't do that, not even because of me. I know you Maya, you could never take a life like that. You love it otherwise you would have killed it months ago. I know there's part of you that cares."

"About what?" She spat.

"Me. You love me." He looked at her steadily, absolutely assured. She laughed in his face.

"You're more insane then I imagined. You don't think I'd kill you the first chance I can?"

"I think you can try, whether you succeed is another matter." His hand finally settled on her rounded belly gently. He smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

After days of screaming and crying herself tired she had become calm, thinking of her options. Or more appropriately the options that Sylar offered her.

"I'm glad that you've finally calmed down, it's not good for you getting worked up like that." They were sitting in the place that he had claimed as his apartment. She had soon learnt that she was on the Odessa base, which was more or less his head quarters now. After everyone started to die there were people that emerged as leaders and none of them were what you would call ordinary. Sylar reined on top.

Maya kept her face impassive as she stiffened her back on the couch she was on. He was sitting in an armchair before her. Black eyes stared at him hard.

"Still not speaking to me?" He sighed, leaning back. "Fine, that's fine for now because all I want for you to do is listen." She turned her face to look out of the window but she had her head cocked to the side. "Ok, I'm going to give you a set of simple rules that you're going to adjust to. Again I'll make it clear that as long as you are here and carrying my child then no harm will come to you. But if you do try anything rash I'll put you back in the cell. Understood?"

Maya pressed her lips together, still not looking at him. She had the nagging need to sit back as her lower back was beginning to pinch. She remained upright.

"You don't have to feel like this is a prison Maya, if you act as I wish you to then your time here will go without mishap. You want the best for the baby don't you?"

She turned sharply to him. "I do but that will never be possible with anything you can offer me." Her hand cupped the swelling of her belly. "You can lay down all the rules you wish to but I will not follow them."

"You're thinking of escaping. It's ridiculous Maya. You can't survive out there." He looked at her like he was trying to explain something to a child.

She snorted derisively. "What do you know about out there? I've heard reports. Sylar in Texas, never leaving, while we clear up the dead."

His brows lowered darkly. "There's a difference between cowardice and self preservation. Here I'm , you, are safe. Out there you're the walking dead. Do you understand? You and the baby will die. I can protect you."

"Because of your powers?"

"Yes."

"Like my brother's power?!" She could feel her arms shaking, her legs jumping in tension. For months she had wished to find out the fate of her brother, why he was taken from her.

He blinked, mouth opening before he closed it. "I don't have his power."

Maya frowned at him, her breathing heavy "What? Mohinder said that you killed him to get Alejandro's power."

"I didn't take it."

She could feel her mouth form into a snarl "But you still killed him? Why?!"

His hands squeezed into fists at his side, face reddening. "I would have let him go. For you, I was prepared to let him leave but he was going to take you from me and I had to stop him. He was a constant blockade between us." He spoke fast, voice increasingly rising in octave as he progressed.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You- you murdered him because you felt threatened?!"

His eyes widened in a sad look she remembered. He had been talking about killing his mother at the time. "I needed you, I couldn't let you be taken from me."

She was going to vomit. "I don't believe you! Oh god you killed him at the motel didn't you? Oh god what we did, what we…Dios mio what is wrong with you? You're a monster…"

She stood up, moving away from him. His eyes shined to brightly for a moment before his face became like stone. "I'll call for someone to take you back." Monotone.

Maya didn't look at the person that took her arm until she realised that she was outside, sitting on a bench. In the distance she could make out a wooded area through the fence. The woman turned out to be called Meredith and she spoke with a drawling accent whenever a cigarette wasn't touching her lips, which wasn't very frequent. She had been very jittery around Sylar, smile to forced as she held on to her cigarette box with shaking fingers. Once they were alone she breathed out a relieved sigh.

"You fear him?" Maya was sitting with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, taking regulated breaths to calm herself as Meredith stamped her feet on the ground. She looked at her in surprise before her mouth twisted.

"I think you'd have to be out of your mind not to." She laughed weakly.

"Then why do you work for him?"

The blonde shook her head, sighing. "Deal with the devil sweetie." She saw Maya's confusion and sat down on the seat next to her, drawing on her cigarette before speaking. "You've probably noticed by now that they're a lot of people living on this base or in the town around it?" Maya nodded, she had seen people from her window and groups eating together in a canteen she had been in once. They all looked so normal to her.

"When everyone got sick there was no cure and everything just went to hell fast. But then…" She trailed off, looking at Maya beseechingly. "I've done some bad things in my life, I admit that but I don't think I was ever really bad. You just got to do whatever you can to survive you know? Well, I started to hear about Odessa, that there was something happening here. I heard the name Sylar, and that he was like me, powerful. Soon everyone started to talk about him and what he offered. You see." She leaned forward, trailing smoke. "He has the cure. Right here and people, those that are left, flocked to him. I did, I got sick and I came here."

"He cured you?" Maya had heard rumours of Sylar attracting a following but the reports as to why were never clear.

"He did but at a price." She sat back, face twisted. She was silent, looking out into the trees. Finally she spoke in a detached voice. "I'm the firestarter, I set fire to things that need burning. And oh lord is there so much to burn." Her eyes looked at Maya with a repressed horror. "I don't think the smell will ever go."

Maya didn't know what to say so stayed silent. Before long they went back in to eat.

She was free to walk around the base as she wished, with no escort. But this did not put her at ease as she was never truly alone with Sylar knowing her every move. She was given books to read, films to watch and an abundance of clothes to wear, from the casual to the ludicrously lavish. The dresses were left untouched. Maya had always, even as a child, acted rashly. As a little girl she would scream and cry until she was given what she wanted but not now. She waited patiently for a way to slip under him and away. She knew it was all but impossible but she had to try. Her baby was all that was left to her now and he couldn't take it, he _couldn't_.

Maya's power might be blocked from her but before she leaves this place he would be cold at her feet.


	3. Chapter 3

The soil kicked up under her feet as she ran, dodging rocks and roots. As someone that prided herself on her own physical endurance she wasn't moving as nimbly as she once could, her every step taken with care. She paused when she reached the top of the slope, looking through the tress…

It had gone much to smoothly this time, her escape, but she was so happy to be outside and away from him that she just kept on running. She had stored away as much food and water as she could get and waited until night had fallen. Her door was unlocked and she had gotten off the complex without incident.

It was her third attempt.

"To easy, to easy." She had been thinking and now she couldn't keep from uttering it as she reached the main road. There were no cars anymore to pick her up but she didn't let that hinder her. As soon as she got into the nearest town she would steal one and make her way to one of the Company bases that hadn't been shut down.

She walked, accompanied by the whistling creak of the wind through the trees and her own breathing. Dawn would be soon. Maya had her head down but now she raised it when her eyes detected a change in the light. She could make out the pinpricks of two car headlights shining in the distance. It was parked on the side of the road, deserted she thought. She said a silent prayer and walked faster. As she got closer she felt her steps faltering, her stomach tightening.

"Oh no, no please."

"You didn't really think you could do it again did you?" He leaning against the hood of the car, feet crossed at the ankle. He was smirking at her.

She didn't waste any time on a response but instead darted sideways into the dense trees. She distinctly heard him sigh before the sounds of snapping twigs filled the air.

"You can't run from me." She screamed in shock as she was suddenly smacked into his chest. She staggered back but he held her shoulders, pulling her closer. Her eyes were huge.

"How? How did you do that?"

"I've got all sorts of powers Maya. And the one I'm using now makes your attempts at escape absolutely futile. It's a waste of your time and mine."

"You have teleportation? Like Hiro?" His face twitched at the sound of the name, he still hadn't caught him yet she knew. She leaned back from him but he pulled her closer to him, fingers getting caught in her long hair.

"Nooo" He drew the word out, face starting to brightened with a childlike glee.

"How then?!" She was scared, frightened that she was powerless with him and alone. And disappointed, the further she got the more assured she was that she had succeeded this time.

"Where do you think you are now? Hmmm?" He hummed pleasantly.

"I don't know! Ten, twelve miles from the base." He was grinning now and Maya was getting increasingly agitated.

"Nope. Oh Maya, Do you really think I'd let you get this far? Do you really think I don't know every move you make?" He cupped her face and she snapped away from him with a glare. "Do you think you're standing in a clearing by a roadside?"

Maya frowned and then gasped in shock as the air around her started ripple and tear, burning away like acid on plastic to reveal his room. She was sitting down with Sylar, in his arms. She jerked away with a cry, shuffling to the arm rest.

"What?! What?!"

"It's ok, calm down." He patted down the air with his hands, smiling. Maya started at him with horror.

"What did you do to me?"

"I created an illusion around you to make you believe that you could escape. Precisely to show you that it's impossible. You can't hide from me."

"It- it was fake?"

"Yes. You've been here with me the whole time." The corner of his mouth twitched.

Maya sat back, willing her shock to pass. With it came a crushing disappointment. She was trapped, she had no way out. She looked at him, her face feeling numb and eyes tired. "All the other times, that was fake to?"

"Not all of them. I wanted to see how far you could get. But it became to risky." his eyes looked down at her stomach. "You're almost six months now…"

Maya exhaled a tired breath and leaned back into the cushions, suddenly very tired. She looked at him and he caught her eye. "If you can always find me why must you keep me here? Why don't you let me go? I can find places that are still safe."

"Because it's _not_ safe Maya! You have no way to protect yourself." He leaned towards her, face sternly serious.

"We'll see…" Maya watched him get up sharply and walk around the room in annoyance. She knew part of what he said was right but she was certain of her own survival. She had lived in it before she could do it again. "I'd rather live and give birth in those death ghettos then spend another minute with you."

His body, usually so tall and limber became stiff, shoulders hunched. He didn't turn to face her but instead talked to the window. "You're not the Maya I knew."

"And who's fault is that?!" She could feel her voice becoming guttural with tears and she swallowed. Angry at him for using her so completely and then being cast aside - _shot_. He had missed her heart. His head straightened and he was unnaturally still for a long moment.

"I know you hate me and I know you want your baby to survive. Maya, if she means that much to you then you should just deal with whatever negative emotions you feel about me and put it to the side for now."

"And after she's born?" _She, she. _"Give her over to you? Then you take my power?" Her fingers dug into the plush arm rest, feet raised to shaking tiptoes on the carpet. She cared about her daughter and she wanted to believe that that was all that mattered for now. But she couldn't, not when the future before her was so dark and without hope. Her baby must be born but not here with him. Not taken from her and used. Twisted.

He had turned to her, face half obscured by shadow. "You don't have your power Maya." He said it softly.

"I know. You killed the man from Haiti, Mohinder told me he could suppress abilities." She kept her voice steady, her face impassive. Shestill wasn't sure what to think about not being able to use it. She had wanted it gone for so long and now it was.

He walked forward slowly till he stood before her, then got down on his hunches, making Maya sit back. He shook his head. "I never got his power, unfortunately. Nothing is suppressing your power Maya."

Her mouth parted, heart beat escalating. "Then what?" _Oh god_.

His eyes flickered and he laid a hand on her knee. She hardly noticed it. "You have the virus."

She felt goose bumps break out all over her body and she involuntarily shuddered. She had escaped it for so long she thought she might be lucky. "Oh Jesus…what -" She licked her lips "What strain?"

"I can cure you Maya, I won't let anything bad happen to you." His voice was soft, reassuring. His hand made to touch her face before thinking better of it. He rested it on her other knee instead, which trembled under him.

"Why are you so sure?!" Her voice shook with strain and fear.

"Because I injected you with it myself." He leaned away from her as he said it, muscles tense.

Her mind went blank and she frowned at him. "Que?"

"I've given you what you've always wanted. You don't have your power anymore." His smile seemed unsure of itself, hesitant.

"But - but that's crazy. I'm sick, you've made me and the baby sick." Her body was so tense even her blood felt clogged.

His head shook quickly. "You won't die. As long as you are with me you'll both be fine." He saw her face was uncomprehending so he continued, moving onto his knees to be closer. "I have the cure. And I can take your power away without giving you the virus." Maya could feel a but coming and she wasn't wrong. "But you do have the virus but only until the baby is born."

"Why would you make me sick on purpose?" Her shock was beginning to fade to be replaced by anger.

"As a fell safe. You leave this place, you leave me Maya, and you die." His face would have once carried a threatening look with that speech, now he looked apprehensive. "So you see, you've got to stop trying to escape. Here is your safe place."

Maya stared into his eyes for a long time, watching them and remembering how she thought they used to be. Warm and calm. Finally she spoke up quietly. "Back home, when I was a girl, there was this homeless man. For years people avoided him because he would shout if anyone got close. He didn't even have a dog because they could smell the madness coming off him on the air. My mother always said, before she died, that it was us that made him crazy because we ignored him." Maya leaned forward, voice still low but carrying. "I looked at him once, as a dare, right in the eyes and I never thought, wished, I would ever see those eyes again. You are insane Gabriel." She was surprised how pitying her voice sounded.

His face had been perfectly still as she spoke but at the sound of his former name his eye began to twitch. The hands on her legs tightened forcibly. "You need to sleep, you're not thinking clearly. My bedroom is through that door." He tilted his head back as he stood.

Maya scoffed. "I'm not sleeping in your bed."

"Fine. So you'll stay in yours and no more trying to leave the base?" He held out his hand but she ignored it and got up ungracefully. He placed a hand on her back and pulled her up anyway. "I'll take you back."

Maya detached herself from his hand and walked towards the door leading out into the hallway. The sun was rising and she yawned. As they reached her room she turned to him. He stood with his hands behind his back, head down. Maya suddenly thought about goodbye kisses and had to bite her tongue to stop laughing. She was exhausted, her mind sluggish. Before she closed her door on him she paused, a nagging question on her tongue. "How do I know everything you've just told me isn't a lie?"

He raised an eyebrow, looking just as sleepy as her. He shrugged. "You don't. But do you really want to risk it Maya?"

No, she thought wearily, I don't.


	4. Chapter 4

Flour dusted her mamá's hands as she sprinkled it with a rub of her fingers into a clear bowl. Nadia liked to watch her mother cook because her daddy would come and help to. It was the only time that they were nice to each other. Her daddy said that mamá was the best cook in Odessa and he kept good time. Making good food was all about timing he said.

Her father couldn't join them in the kitchen today because he was busy so her mamá was cooking alone. Nadia was seated at the table watching quietly as Maya hummed to herself in Spanish. As she bustled about she would tell her daughter stories.

"In Santo Domingo there is a big aquarium where they have all these beautiful colourful fish. They even have sharks that swim above your head." She turned, eyes bright. "And do you know how close they can get?" Nadia shook her head. She had heard these stories about her mamá's old home before but she liked to hear them never the less.

Her mother walked to Nadia and put her hand up to her face. "They can get this close…and here and here!" She tickled Nadia, making her wiggle with laughter. Maya tuted when she saw the flour left on Nadia's shirt, brushing it off with a napkin.

"What are you making mamá?" The counter was crowded with ingredients and bowls. Maya smiled and turned back to her baking.

"I'm making your father's favourite." She cracked five eggs sharply into the bowl, all with one hand. "Bizcocho Criolla."

Nadia grimaced. It was a coconut cake and it was disgusting. "Eww!"

Maya laughed. "Eww is right! But your papa likes it. But this time it's a special cake. A very special cake with a _magic_ ingredient and he will like it very much." She beat the eggs together briskly, turning to look at her daughter. Nadia had never seen her mother so excited. For a moment Nadia felt her stomach flutter.

Her parents weren't like the others that she saw on the base. They didn't smile and hug and kiss together like Jamie Bishop's mamá and daddy. If Nadia's dad tried to do that to her mamá she would go crazy and start to shout. Nadia didn't like it when her mom got upset. That was why she liked the kitchen best of all because it was the place that her mamá would be calm and talk in a quite voice to her father.

Everyone spoke softly around her dad, moved slowly. It reminded her of the way people moved around a dog they were scared of. Nadia found this behaviour odd as her daddy was so nice. Maybe it was because her dad was in charge of the base. Her mamá said it was because he was very powerful. Nadia also knew that her mother thought that her dad was mad but Nadia ignored that. Her mother didn't understand, she wasn't special.

Her mother was now smiling that huge smile, the one that made her face shine. Meredith called her mamá radiant when she was happy and Nadia agreed. Her mamá didn't smile enough. She grinned back. "Why are you happy?"

"Because I have reason to be! All those stories I told you of the Dominican, I've wanted you to see it so much -"

Nadia broke in. "Daddy showed me what it was like. Remember when he made the parking lot in to a beach for you?"

Maya's face shadowed and she shook her head. "That wasn't real. I'm talking about walking on real sand and feeling the real warm breeze on your skin." Her mother sighed. From her earliest memories her mother had told her stories about leaving Texas, going on a boat and living on her island. For years she would tell Nadia this. But it would make her father angry and they would have screaming fights which made Nadia frightened. After awhile her mother stopped telling her that they would leave and instead just told her stories about the place. Her mamá was never happy here.

Nadia frowned. "But you can't go outside mamá, it's to far and to dangerous. The air isn't clean. And-" She paused, feeling apprehensive but spoke again softly. "There's no one left there anymore mamá, everyone is dead. Papa said that the virus wiped out millions and millions of people."

Maya had stopped whisking, instead she turned around with hunched shoulders. Her voice was thick when she spoke, her accent strong. "I know that chica. But your father has not told you everything. They are still people alive, people that need help while we sit here and do nothing."

"But we can't do anything for them. Papa said that the ones that survived would still be infected and would die anyway. It would be a waste of the cure."

Maya's hand smacked down on her wooden block, making the flour shoot up in a puff. "He would say that. I told you before not to believe everything he tells you…" She remained still for a moment, looking down at her hands before she poured out the mixture and put it into the oven. Then she started to make the meringue, working steadily and quietly. Once it was ready she sat down at the table with a relieved sigh. Nadia bit her nail but her mother cleared her throat. Nadia sat on her hands and looked up, sad.

"You always want to leave."

Her mother stared at her softly. "Oh I wouldn't be leaving you! We would both go."

"And what about daddy?"

Maya's mouth thinned but then brightened. "Well he would have to stay here to take care of everybody. He's in charge, he can't leave."

"But we can't leave mamá, I don't want to go."

Maya leaned over the table, face set and eyes fierce. "From the moment I got here I made up my mind to leave, with you. If I can do it now then I'm going to. You will probably hate me for a little while Nadia but the alternative would be much worse. Your father is not a good person baby."

Nadia sat back, biting the inside of her cheek. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried not to cry. Nadia didn't cry, like her papa. She loved her mamá very much but she was the one that would be nasty to her father.

"You always make daddy sad. He says and does nice things to you and you are always nasty back." She stared hard, dark eyes inherited from both parents glittering. Her mother pursed her lips and got up sharply from the table, going to the oven.

"Your daddy is a very good actor Nadia, he pretends to be nice." She grabbed a tea towel and whipped it through the air with a crack and opened the oven door.

"No he doesn't! He's nice to me! Papa wouldn't pretend with me!" She drew in a shaking breath and started to cry.

Maya turned around, cake still in the oven, and quickly drew her daughter up into a hug. "Shhh baby, shhh. Of course he doesn't pretend with you baby. He loves you very much." She sat down on the chair and set Nadia on her lap. Gentle fingers brushed strands of hair away from Nadia's wet face.

"I really don't wanna go mamá. It's nasty outside and I can't leave daddy. You're horrible for being mean." The arms around her stiffened. "Just be nice for once mamá, you can make him smile like I do then."

She didn't answer but Nadia could feel her chest shaking against her. Finally, when Nadia felt tears fall into her hair, she spoke. "I'm sorry baby, I'm sorry."

"Why don't you act like the other mommies and daddies? Jamie said that you fight all the time because you're not married and so don't love each other. He said that I shouldn't even exist."

"That boy has a big mouth like his mother…" She said scornfully.

"But you don't love papa and you are not his wife. Daddy doesn't even live with us."

Maya sighed wearily. Her fingers combed through Nadia's thick hair and drew it into a tail. "I did love your father once Nadia, very much. That was when you were made…I used to call him my angel." She snorted softly through her nose but she sounded extremely sad.

Nadia put her arms around her mamá and squeezed tight. "The bible says that we should be nice to people, that you should love everybody, even if they're your enemy. Isn't that right mamá?"

"Yes Nadia, that is right…" The kitchen was silent for a long time and Maya watched the meringue deflating in the bowl. She roused herself after a while, looking at the clock. "Oh you should be in bed baby."

Nadia jumped down from her mother's lap happily. It wasn't the sleep she liked but the bed time stories. And it was her daddies turn tonight. "Daddy is reading me The Grinch Who Stole Christmas!"

Her mother smiled despite herself. "I think I know who your favourite story teller is…"

"The Who live in a snowflake mamá, and daddy found it and showed me!" She spread her arms wide. "It's this big and hangs in the air." Nadia skipped to the door then turned around sharply. "The cake mamá! It will be burnt!" She watched her mother look at her calmly.

"I know Nadia. I think maybe daddy wouldn't like that cake after all. Maybe later. He'll eat it one day and then we can go on vacation." Her mother took a deep breath and pushed her hair behind her ears.

A warm hand took her right hand and led her from the kitchen. A bigger hand took her left one. "Daddy! Were you hiding there all the time?"

Her mother and father looked at each other over her head and Nadia didn't think she'd need to see what those sharks looked like in that far away aquarium.


End file.
